Publisher: Gallery Books

Eye Candy Friday: Clarke West from Marriage on Madison Avenue by Lauren Layne

Posted February 14, 2020 by Rowena in Features | 2 Comments

Eye Candy Friday is all about the heroes and heroines that I’m loving and wanting to spotlight right now. Sometimes I’ll do full-on gush fest posts on why I love these guys, sometimes I’ll post pictures of what I think they look like and that’s it but if they’re featured here, the one thing that will be constant is I loved the hell out of them and want everyone to know. Thanks for coming along for the ride.

First and foremost, Happy Valentine’s Day everyone! I hope you are all celebrating it however the hell you want to celebrate it.

Eye Candy Friday: Clarke West from Marriage on Madison Avenue by Lauren Layne

Marriage on Madison Avenue
by Lauren Layne
Series: The Central Park Pact #3
Published by Gallery Books on January 28, 2020
Genres: Contemporary, Romance
Point of View:Third Person
Pages: 288
Format: eARC
Source: NetGalley
Add It: Goodreads

From New York Times bestselling author Lauren Layne, comes the final installment of the Central Park Pact series, a heartfelt and laugh-out-loud romantic comedy that’s perfect for fans of Sally Thorne and Christina Lauren.

Can guys and girls ever be just friends? According to Audrey Tate and Clarke West, absolutely. After all, they’ve been best friends since childhood without a single romantic entanglement. Clarke is the charming playboy Audrey can always count on, and he knows that the ever-loyal Audrey will never not play along with his strategy for dodging his matchmaking mother—announcing he’s already engaged…to Audrey.

But what starts out as a playful game between two best friends turns into something infinitely more complicated, as just-for-show kisses begin to stir up forbidden feelings. As the faux wedding date looms closer, Audrey and Clarke realize that they can never go back to the way things were, but deep down, do they really want to?

Today’s eye candy is Clarke West from Marriage on Madison Avenue by Lauren Layne. You can read all about what I thought about Clarke’s book here.

Hero Casting

The Central Park Pact

Have you read Marriage on Madison Avenue? Did you love Clark West as much as I did? Who is your favorite character this week?

2 Comments
Tags: Book Boyfriends, Character Casting, Clarke West, Eye Candy Friday, Favorite Heroes, Lauren Layne, The Central Park Pact Series

The Wednesday Post (15)

Posted June 26, 2019 by Rowena in Features | 0 Comments

Can’t Wait Wednesday is hosted by Tessa over at Wishful Endings and it was based on Waiting on Wednesday that was hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine. WWW Wednesday is a weekly meme that is hosted by Sam at Taking on a World of Words.

I decided that I’m going to do a mashup of the Can’t Wait Wednesday and WWW Wednesday posts here on my blog. I’m bringing them together and calling it The Wednesday Post. Here’s what I’m up to this week.

WWW Wednesday

What did you recently finish reading?

Night Broken (Mercy Thompson #8) by Patricia Briggs

This book took a lot out of me. The story itself was really good and I was deeply invested in what was going on but I spent most of the book sorely disappointed in people that I have come to love and respect. But it was also in this book that my love and admiration for Mercy Thompson was solidified. Often times, there are series written around a main heroine that everyone and their Mom falls in love with and wants to protect and I don’t get the appeal but not that’s not the case with Mercy. I completely get why everyone in her world loves her. Hell, I love her. I would follow her right off a bridge if she needed me to. She’s that awesome to me. My friend Holly said it best though when she said, “I thought Mercy was going to be a super badass. Like Kate Daniels badass. But she isn’t. She’s just this regular person, trying her best.” and that is exactly why I love Mercy so much. She’s just a mechanic, trying to live her best life and not leave anyone behind. She’s seriously the best.

What are you currently reading?

Fire Touched (Mercy Thompson #9) by Patricia Briggs

I’ve been trying to catch up with this series all year long and I haven’t gotten anywhere with that goal so the minute that I was done reading all of my May and June review books, I jumped back into this world and I’m not leaving until I’m completely caught up. Also, I’m really glad that I read this book immediately after finishing Night Broken because as mad as I was at a certain Alpha, I’m glad that I didn’t really stew in how mad I ~~was~~ am with him. He kind of made up for some (not all) of the shit that he put me through in the last book but he’s still got a ways to go before I’ll be completely over all of the shenanigans he let his ex-wife and his pack get away with.

What do you think you’ll read next?

Silence Fallen (Mercy Thompson #10) by Patricia Briggs
Storm Cursed (Mercy Thompson #11) by Patricia Briggs

Like I said earlier, I’m determined to be completely caught up on this series so that I can work on other series that I’ve been itching to read. I’m really enjoying the time that I’m spending in this world so I’ll be reading these two books next before jumping back into my review pile for next month. Wish me luck!

Can’t Wait Wednesday

Twice in a Blue Moon
by Christina Lauren
Published by Simon & Schuster, Gallery Books on October 22, 2019
Genres: Romance, Contemporary
Point of View:First Person
Pages: 368
Format: eARC
Source: NetGalley
Add It: Goodreads

From the New York Times bestselling author of The Unhoneymooners and the “delectable, moving” (Entertainment Weekly) My Favorite Half-Night Stand comes a modern love story about what happens when your first love reenters your life when you least expect it…

Sam Brandis was Tate Jones’s first: Her first love. Her first everything. Including her first heartbreak.

During a whirlwind two-week vacation abroad, Sam and Tate fell for each other in only the way that first loves do: sharing all of their hopes, dreams, and deepest secrets along the way. Sam was the first, and only, person that Tate—the long-lost daughter of one of the world’s biggest film stars—ever revealed her identity to. So when it became clear her trust was misplaced, her world shattered for good.

Fourteen years later, Tate, now an up-and-coming actress, only thinks about her first love every once in a blue moon. When she steps onto the set of her first big break, he’s the last person she expects to see. Yet here Sam is, the same charming, confident man she knew, but even more alluring than she remembered. Forced to confront the man who betrayed her, Tate must ask herself if it’s possible to do the wrong thing for the right reason… and whether “once in a lifetime” can come around twice.

With Christina Lauren’s signature “beautifully written and remarkably compelling” (Sarah J. Maas, New York Times bestselling author) prose and perfect for fans of Emily Giffin and Jennifer Weiner, Twice in a Blue Moon is an unforgettable and moving novel of young love and second chances.

Christina Lauren has been doing a great job of writing contemporary romances lately and I’m here for all of their releases. I have enjoyed the last few books they released and I have every faith that I’m going to enjoy this one as well. This book comes on out October 22nd so you’ll want to mark your calendars…this promises to be another winner from the dynamic writing duo.

So, what are you reading this week? Anything good? Anything that you want to rant about?
Are you looking forward to Twice in a Blue Moon? What other books are you looking forward to releasing this year?

0 Comments
Tags: Can't Wait Wednesday, Christina Lauren, Currently Reading, My Wishlist, The Wednesday Post, Week in Books, WWW Wednesday

The Wednesday Post (3)

Posted January 16, 2019 by Rowena in Features | 16 Comments

So I’ve been playing around with things that I want to do on this blog and I’ve been wanting to do a mid-week check in so that I can chat about the books that I’m reading that week. What’s working for me and what’s not but I also want to keep a running list of books that I cannot wait to get my greedy little hands on. I decided that I’m going to do a mashup of the Can’t Wait Wednesday and WWW Wednesday posts here on my blog.

Here are the books from my reading week so far.

WWW Wednesday

What did you recently finish reading?

The Wrong Game by Kandi Steiner

I was hoping that I’d like this book a lot more than I did. I was bored with a lot of the last half of the book and the first half of the book, the heroine annoyed the shit out of me but the hero was the bomb and I adored him. So it wasn’t the best but it wasn’t the worst book ever so..:()

What are you currently reading?

Blood Kiss (Black Dagger Legacy #1) by J.R. Ward

My book club meeting is fast approaching (on Monday) so I really need to get this book read and a discussion prepped for it. I am not a fan of J.R. Ward so really…wish me luck!

What do you think you’ll read next?

One and Only (Bridesmaids Behaving Badly #1) by Jenny Holiday

I have the third book in this series for review and it comes out next week so I need to hurry up and get this read as well. I’m looking forward to diving into this series since I’ve been hearing nothing but good things about it. Woot!

Can’t Wait Wednesday

Passion on Park Avenue
by Lauren Layne
Series: The Central Park Pact #1
Published by Simon & Schuster, Gallery Books on May 28, 2019
Genres: Contemporary, Romance
Pages: 288
Add It: Goodreads

From the author of the New York Times bestselling Stiletto and Oxford series, the first in a sizzling new series following the unlikely friendship of three Upper East Side women as they struggle to achieve their dreams and find true love and happiness in the city that never sleeps.

For as long as she can remember, Bronx-born Naomi Powell has had one goal: to prove her worth among the Upper East Side elite—the same people for which her mom worked as a housekeeper. Now, as the strongminded, sassy CEO of one of the biggest jewelry empires in the country, Naomi finally has exactly what she wants—but it’s going to take more than just the right address to make Manhattan’s upper class stop treating her like an outsider.

The worst offender is her new neighbor, Oliver Cunningham—the grown son of the very family Naomi’s mother used to work for. Oliver used to torment Naomi when they were children, and as a ridiculously attractive adult, he’s tormenting her in entirely different ways. Now they find themselves engaged in a battle-of-wills that will either consume or destroy them…

Filled with charm and heart and plenty of sex and snark, this entertaining series will hook you from the very first page.

I’m pretty thirsty for this book to come out already. I will devour anything and everything that Lauren Layne releases and I’m not even ashamed about that. She’s at the top of my favorite authors lists and I enjoy her writing style so much. I have every faith that this book is going to be the bomb so this is what I look like right now…

So, what are you reading this week? Anything good? Anything that you want to rant about?
Are you looking forward to Passion on Park Avenue? What other books are you looking forward to releasing this year?

16 Comments
Tags: Book Nerd Things, Books, Can't Wait Wednesday, Currently Reading, The Wednesday Post, WWW Wednesday

Book Boyfriend: Reid Campbell from My Favorite Half Night Stand by Christina Lauren

Posted December 14, 2018 by Rowena in Features | 4 Comments

This feature keeps changing because I’m trying different things out but I think I’m going to stick with this format from here on out. Thanks for coming along this ride until I figure out what the hell I want to do here. LOL.

Book Boyfriend: Reid Campbell from My Favorite Half Night Stand by Christina Lauren

My Favorite Half-Night Stand
by Christina Lauren
Published by Simon & Schuster, Gallery Books on December 4, 2018
Genres: Contemporary, Romance
Point of View:Alternating Third Person
Pages: 384
Format: eARC
Source: NetGalley
Add It: Goodreads

By the New York Times bestselling author who “hilariously depicts modern dating” (Us Weekly), My Favorite Half-Night Stand is a laugh-out-loud romp through online dating and its many, many fails.

Millie Morris has always been one of the guys. A UC Santa Barbara professor, she’s a female-serial-killer expert who’s quick with a deflection joke and terrible at getting personal. And she, just like her four best guy friends and fellow professors, is perma-single.

So when a routine university function turns into a black tie gala, Mille and her circle make a pact that they’ll join an online dating service to find plus-ones for the event. There’s only one hitch: after making the pact, Millie and one of the guys, Reid Campbell, secretly spend the sexiest half-night of their lives together, but mutually decide the friendship would be better off strictly platonic.

But online dating isn’t for the faint of heart. While the guys are inundated with quality matches and potential dates, Millie’s first profile attempt garners nothing but dick pics and creepers. Enter “Catherine”—Millie’s fictional profile persona, in whose make-believe shoes she can be more vulnerable than she’s ever been in person. Soon “Catherine” and Reid strike up a digital pen-pal-ship...but Millie can’t resist temptation in real life, either. Soon, Millie will have to face her worst fear—intimacy—or risk losing her best friend, forever.

Perfect for fans of Roxanne and She’s the Man, Christina Lauren’s latest romantic comedy is full of mistaken identities, hijinks, and a classic love story with a modern twist. Funny and fresh, you’ll want to swipe right on My Favorite Half-Night Stand.

This week’s boyfriend was my favorite part of his book. I adored getting to know him and I was super happy when he finally got his happily ever after in the end because it wasn’t easy in coming. Reid was such a normal guy with normal problems and fears. He wasn’t this super alpha-hole that dominated the hell out of the heroine. He was her best friend and he loved her most out of everyone. Even when things didn’t work out the way that he hoped, he still loved her and was so normal about it all.

Postsex, I feel like a well-used glove, a warm blanket, a body pillow. Soft and warm and sated. But inside, somewhere deeper, I’m a knot of angst. I want Millie. I think I’m falling in love with her. And she just does not see me that way at all.

There is much to recommend Reid Campbell. He’s a professor, he’s a lovable nerd who is good to the people in his life. He was always there for friends and he was extremely protective of those he loved. He was smart and funny and so sweet, I just loved him to pieces.

The way he smiles up at me is the same way he always looks at me: like there is nowhere else he’d rather be.

You know that saying, “Find you a man that looks at you the way…”? Well, find you a man that looks at you the way that Reid looks at Millie. Like there is nowhere else he’d rather be. Those are the good ones.

The thing about Reid is that everyone knows a Reid. He’s not some super perfect human who is unattainable. He’s the guy next door that helps you bring up the trashcans on trash day. He’s the guy that stops and holds the elevator door so you don’t have to wait 16 floors for the next one. He wasn’t out there trying to hook up with as many women as he could because he could, he was having quiet nights in with his best friend, listening to her problems and falling in love with her. We all know a Reid. We all love a Reid.

“I love you, too.” He punctuates each small phrase with a kiss lower on my throat. “All of you. The silly, the quiet, the argumentative, the sarcastic, and even this side.” He kisses my shoulder. “The softer side.”

Reid’s book My Favorite Half Night Stand by Christina Lauren is problematic as hell but the writing is still super good. These authors have a way of pissing me off and then making everything all better in the end. Reid is a huge reason why I loved this book and I just love him so. If you’re looking for a hot nerdy professor hero falling in love with his best friend, pick this one up. It’s good, I promise.